Improvement in oars



W. LYMAN.

Oars. I No.169 277, Patented0ct.26,l875.

N.PTERS, PHOTOVLITHOGRAF'HER. WASHINGTON. D. C

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

WILLIAM LYMAN, OF MIDDLEFIELD, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT lNOARS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 169,277, dated October26, 1875; application filed July 31,1875.

To all whom it may coacem:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM LYMAN, of

Middlefield, in the county of Middlesex and State of Connecticut, haveinvented a new Improvement in Rowing-Gear; and I do hereby declare thefollowing, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings andthe letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, and which said drawings constitute part of thisspecification, and represent a plan view.

This invention relates to an improvement in the arrangement ofoars forthe purpose of rowing, the object being to row a boat in the samedirection toward which the oarsman is facing; and the invention consistsin constructing the oar in two parts, the one part forming the handle,jointed by a ball or universal joint to the gunwale, and the other oroar part jointed in likemanner to the gunwale forward, and the two partsunited by a connecting rod hinged to the handle inside the joint, and tothe oar outside the joint, so that the car moves in the same directionas the handle, as more fully hereinafter described.

A represents the gunwale of a boat, or that part to which the rowlock isusually attached. B is the handle portion of the oar, which is of theusual length from the rowlock inward. The outer end is hinged to theboat by a ball or universal joint, 0, so that the oarsman, taking holdof the handle, may move the handle forward and back, and in the pathsubstantially the same as a common oar. D is the oar proper, its upperor inner end hinged to the boat by a ball or other universal joint, E,forward of the joint 0 of the handle part. F

is a connecting-rod, jointed to the handle part at a inside the joint 0,and 'to the car part outside the joint E, as at d, the hinge on the'twoparts being, by preference, equidistant from their respective joints, sothat the movement of the oar will be the same as that of the handle.

The oarsman, facing forward, takes the hanto this arrangement of thejoints the leverage of the handle upon the oar increases from the startto the completion of thestroke, the oar moving faster as it starts, anddiminishing gradually to the close of the stroke.

I am aware of the arrangement of oars as described in Patent N 0.66,847, and therefore do not Wish to be understood as claiming anythingshown in said patent.

I claim The combination of the two parts B D, the

part B hung to the gunwale by a ball-joint at its outer end, the part 1)hung to the gunwale by a ball-joint at its inner end, and theconnecting-rod Fjointed to the part B inside the gunwale, and to thepart D outside the gunwale, all substantially as specified.

' WILLIAM LYMAN. Witnesses:

JOHN E. EARLE,

CLARA BROUGHTON.

